Posts Tagged ‘Hatchie’

On her debut EP Sugar & Spice, the young Australian singer songwriter Hatchie has established herself as one of the smartest and most eloquent voices in indiepop. Written in the glow of her first romantic relationship, these five songs deliver grandiose melodies and glimmering arrangements that recall the sparkly jangle of Real Estate. By exploring the space, implicit in the project’s title, where the saccharine euphoria of budding romance ends and its grittier complexities begin,

Australian singer-songwriter Hatchie released her debut EP, Sugar & Spice, in May, and she’s been kicking up quite the shimmery storm ever since. She’s currently playing a sold-out string of tour dates with Alvvays and Snail Mail (what you might call an indie fan’s dream lineup). Before supporting that bill at a trio of shows at Warsaw in Brooklyn, N.Y., Hatchie carved out time to play a set in the Paste Studio, and her starry session is guaranteed to make your day brighter.

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Australian singer-songwriter Hatchie released her debut EP, Sugar & Spice, in May, and she’s been kicking up quite the shimmery storm ever since. In September, she played two festivals back-to-back, and she also recently played a sold-out string of tour dates with Alvvays and Snail Mail (what you might call an indie fan’s dream lineup). Hatchie’s irresistible dream-pop is sugar to the ear, but it’s not always lyrically sweet. On her EP’s title track, Hatchie is regretful, singing, “Sugar and spice / I should’ve taken your advice.” She’s not only thoughtful, but also clever in her compositions: Hatchie strikes the perfect combination between acoustic and synth, her pop occasionally moonlighting as something folksier. “Sure,” the first song on Sugar & Spice, uses looping drum machines and consistent synth, but it’s softened by soft acoustic guitar as Hatchie fires off question after question. “Why did you do it? / You couldn’t just laugh and walk away?”

On her debut EP Sugar & Spice, the young Australian songwriter Hatchie has established herself as one of the smartest and most eloquent voices in indiepop. Written in the glow of her first romantic relationship, these five songs deliver grandiose melodies in the vein of Carly Rae Jepsen (“Sleep,” “Try,” “Sugar & Spice”) and glimmering arrangements that recall the sparkly jangle of Real Estate. By exploring the space, implicit in the project’s title, where the saccharine euphoria of budding romance ends and its grittier complexities begin, Hatchie has found a recipe for success.

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The five songs on the debut EP from Brisbane musician Hatchie radiate sunshine. That’s not as easy a feat as it sounds: tip too far in the direction of sunny pop music and the results end up saccharine and cloying; if you try to overcorrect, you end up with the kind of half-hearted songs that feint toward hookiness without ever truly connecting. But Hatchie walks the tightrope, and every minute of Sugar & Spice is fully engaging and almost impossibly heartwarming. The big, sun-bleeding-over-the-horizon guitar chords that open “Sure” give way to a vocal melody that bobs as lazily and gracefully as a beach ball on the surface of a swimming pool. The title track leavens its rush of Fun Dip synths with a heartsick chorus that somersaults up and down the octave. Throughout the EP, Hatchie demonstrates masterful control of her voice, gliding into a cotton-candy-cloud falsetto and then back down into a warm caramel alto, giving the songs a kind of weightlessness and buoyancy—the running start she takes into the bridge of “Sugar & Spice” gives the finale a multicolor, firework-style rush. There are precedents here if you want to spot them—The Cranberries, Cocteau Twins—but Sugar & Spice wriggles off those simple touchstones the more you listen to it to become something entirely its own. Even the regret that powers the tumbling closer “Bad Guy,” in Hatchie’s hands, sounds like optimism.

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Hatchie’s utterly perfect new EP Sugar & Spice might remind you of The Cranberries and Natalie Imbruglia both names are meant as deep compliments. But instead , I’ll go with Cocteau Twins whose RobinGuthrie has already remixed a song from Sugar and The Sundays, but even those fall short in capturing the album’s radiant, sparkling beauty. So let’s forego comparisons altogether and say this instead: that Hatchie aka Harriette Pillbeam has the kind of graceful knack for pop hooks that artists twice her age would sell their souls for. Step inside her mind; a dreamy landscape where cascading synths, jangling guitars, propulsive rhythms and white noise undulate beneath irresistible pop melodies.

The EP moves from triumph to triumph: in “Sure,” Hatchie’s voice skips through a glistening field of guitars, pausing only to ricochet her voice up and up and up the octave on the chorus. She see-saws up and down, from high register to deep alto, on the verses to the title track, the chorus of which is as sticky-sweet and elastic as pulled taffy. But the runaway winner on an EP full of stunners comes at the end; on “Bad Guy,” Hatchie modulates her voice so it lands somewhere between pained longing and calm resolution, and the way the chorus spills from her lips short, breathless syllable after short, breathless syllable adds to the song’s nervous momentum. That the album runs a short 20 minutes is Sugar & Spice’s only drawback as you want more, but that’s a minor quibble; Hatchie could write an album three times as long, and it would still feel like it was over too soon.

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With her debut UK live shows just days away, Brisbane newcomer Hatchie has shared a fourth track and accompanying video from her debut EP, ‘Sugar & Spice’, which comes out on May 25th via Heavenly Recordings.

The new track, ‘Sleep‘, continues to delve into Harriette Pilbeam’s introspective world where daydreams meet a shimmering soundtrack of bright synths, jangling guitars and deliciously bittersweet vocals, we are big fans: “Sleep is about feeling frustrated with someone who can’t communicate their feelings,” she explains. “In this song I’m trying to coax someone into talking to me by any means necessary, even if it means visiting me in dreams.”

On the accompanying video she comments: “We decided to play on the idea that I’m trying to get someone to communicate with me in their sleep. We made a bunch of dreamy sets to focus on, like I’m talking to them in their dreams. At some points I’m really serious, at other points I’m almost teasing them because I’m so over trying to get them to talk.”

Speaking of the EP, Pilbeam says: “After writing music that never felt cohesive or special enough to warrant its own venture, ‘Try’ marked a shift in my writing style I wasn’t expecting. I wrote it in early 2015, followed quickly by ‘Sleep’ and ‘Sugar & Spice’. They were written more for myself than for a specific project, in an effort to explore feelings of vulnerability and ecstasy I had previously suppressed. I wanted these songs to sound lush, sparkly, and recreate euphoric feelings I experienced falling in love for the first time. I reworked my demos with Joe Agius, whose production and writing additions achieved the perfect sound I was searching for, giving me confidence to start taking the songs more seriously and continue writing.

The songs on ‘Sugar & Spice’ were all written without much thought or pressure from myself or anyone else, allowing me to lay my feelings out like I’ve never done before. Joe & producer John Castle helped shape the sound you can hear in each track, bringing life to each song in its own special way.”

The release comes hot off the back of a remarkable nine months for Hatchie. After signing to Ivy League Records for Australia/New Zealand, Heavenly Recordings for UK/Europe and Double Double Whammy/Polyvinyl for North America, and recent performances at SXSW, the international demand will see Hatchie embark on a huge run of shows. The UK leg in May will take in festivals such as Live at Leeds, Liverpool Sound City and The Great Escape as well as a string of London shows.

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Hatchie has revealed details of her debut EP ‘Sugar & Spice’ and released the title track with a excellent new video today. ‘Sugar & Spice’ follows the previously released singles ‘Try’ & ‘Sure’ from the Brisbane based artist Harriette Pilbeam.

The video for ‘Sugar & Spice’ was made by Hatchie band-member Joe Agius, with Harriette Pilbeam:

“Joe and I spent about an hour filming with the guys and two days drawing for the video. It’s such a fun short song, so we wanted something simple and colourful, and less serious than our previous videos. Joe came up with the concept and we took inspiration from our old school scrapbooks.”

“‘Sugar And Spice’ may not be everything nice, but it’s sure a heck of a lot of it. Basically a perfect radio-friendly indie-pop song — it matches its spangly guitar shimmer with vocal harmonies

It’s an annual tradition for Polyvinyl Records to host a SXSW showcase, but this year we’re more excited than ever because we’re teaming up with stellar Brooklyn-based label Double Double Whammy!
We’ll be partying with our new friends from dusk till dawn at Cheer Up Charlie’s, with performances from Jeff Rosenstock (his only SXSW appearance!), White Reaper, Post Animal, Anna Burch, Hovvdy, Hatchie, and Lomelda.
This is also a great time to announce that PV and DDW have officially partnered up–with PV lending a hand in distribution, mailorder, and more–so stay tuned for many exciting things to come!

“Over the past few years, several of us at Polyvinyl have been fans of Double Double Whammy,” says PV co-founder, Matt Lunsford. “Last year when we met Mike and started discussing a partnership, the connection was immediate – DDW has a strong independent sprint and a passion for working together with artists they believe in.”

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Hatchie is one Harriette Pilbeam, a native of Brisbane who has already attracted plaudits at home prior to unsurprisingly picking up wider acclaim from the likes of NPR and Beats 1.

Having played with various friends and bands in Brisbane, Hatchie is her first venture into solo territory, one she is quick to admit is positive, that allows her to make her own decisions, assert herself and make so many positive changes. Her world is a dreamy landscape inhabited by cascading synths, jangling guitars and undeniable, irresistible pop melodies. Sure, prompted by a melody was composed on a whim and completed in a day. As she explains; “All of my songs start with singing. I hear the melody first and then work out the chords I’m imaginging under that and despite not knowing chord names I have a good ear so can kinda figure it out.”

That instinct is abundant on Sure, lush synths envelope alluring vocals that wouldn’t appear out of place in The Sundays and Allvvays songbooks – a gorgeous swathe of pop beauty, an enthralling introduction into the world of Hatchie. The track will be included on a forthcoming EP through Heavenly Recordings that will accompany her debut UK live dates.

Also check out the First single from Brisbane dreampop artist Hatchie.

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Brisbane’s Hatchie may have only released two singles this year, but when they’re your first two and they’re at the quality that Hatchie delivered with “Try” and “Sure”, you would be impressed too. The shoegaze-pop figurehead has sold out shows and graced festival stages across the country off the back of these two singles alone, with her indie-pop charm and spectacular, genre-merging songwriting proving unavoidable for much of the year. On “Sure”, the most recent of her two singles, this brilliant songwriting truly comes to light. The Brisbane name combines her inviting vocals with a stripped-back, acoustic instrumental that’s packed with this dreamy vibe that you could easily hear rolling behind the end credits of a big budget rom-com. It’s full of flavour and love, something we hope Hatchie continues to work with on her forthcoming releases in 2018.

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Hatchie is the stage name of Brisbane-based indie/dream pop singer/songwriter Harriette Pilbeam. She’s been in the Brisbane music scene for a few years as a member of two other bands, but this is her first project that she’s been the front of. She released a shimmering indie-pop single called “Try” earlier this year, and followed that with a further track “Sure” a month ago. She’s set to release her debut EP early next year, and it’s probably safe to assume that this song will be on that record.

In general, there’s a Milk and Kisses-era Cocteaus feeling. There’s also quite a bit of jangly guitars that remind me of the indie rock of the early 90s. The song, according to what I’ve read, is about a couple who keep breaking up and getting back together. They’re giving it one last go because they can’t live with or without each other.

The video seems to be a deliberate glove-tap to the indie pop videos of the early-mid 1990s. The stripey shirt worn by the guitar player. The jangly acoustic guitar. The bank of TVs with horizontal TV noise and video feedback/recursive image. The classic 8-eye Doc Martens worn by Pilbeam. This is all stuff that takes me back to the golden age of indie pop, All I know about the forthcoming EP is that it’s called Sugar and Spice and that it’s due out “early next year”.

Well, I'm dyslexic so writing about something I love: Music, might help but it's most likely just full of mistakes. That title is also lyrics from The Drones song called I Don't Want To Change. Oh, my name is William and thanks for having a look.